Sabotage (1996)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Tibor Takács

Writers (WGA):

Rick Filon (written by) and
Michael Stokes (written by)

Release Date:

31 January 1997 (South Africa)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The Dark Heart Of The Black Ops Beats To A Secret Agenda.

Plot:

Former special services agent plays an intricate game of chess involving several federal agencies. Queen takes pawn.

Plot Keywords:

Assassin | Hostage | FBI | Computer Disc | One Word Title

Cast

Mark Dacascos	...	Michael Bishop
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Louise Castle
Tony Todd	...	Sherwood
Graham Greene	...	Tollander
John Neville	...	Follenfant
James Purcell	...	Putley
Sarah Rosen Fruitman	...	Melissa Castle
Richard Coulter	...	Jeffrey Trent
Heidi von Palleske	...	Susan Trent
John Paul Young	...	Mr. Hickey
Roman Podhora	...	Jack Marker
Nilo Picchi	...	Smith
Mandy Schaffer	...	Lindsay
James Loxley	...	Detective Harris
Terri Hawkes	...	Jess

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and some language.

Runtime:

USA:99 min | Germany:95 min (video version)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Philippines:R-18 | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:18 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company:

Applecreek Communications Inc.

Attention to detail wins out over eye candy here.

In my opinion, this film is a hidden gem. Although some may find the plot line a trifle tortuous, this is more than compensated for by the film's realistic feel and likeable cast.

As the film is not effects-heavy (thanks to a lower than blockbuster budget) attention has instead been paid to creating a believable environment rather than a showy one. The film appears to have the benefit of a good military advisor - firearms & combat sequences are particularly well executed and accurately represented.

Directional cues are used to good effect to allow us to follow the hero's train of thought in pivotal situations, and I was particularly pleased not to see the usual overindulgent "victim setup" sequences which tend to plague many films in this genre.

Neither is this a film which plays down to the audience by stating and restating the obvious; it's refreshing to watch a film which actually credits the viewer with some degree of independent thought!

Although "Sabotage" definitely inclines more towards Len Deighton than Ian Fleming, Mark Dacascos makes a very credible leading man, with his character having just enough background development to lend credibility to his actions, rather than swamping us with "flawed hero" cliches.

This film was obviously never going to break any box office records, but it does show very clearly that you can still have a good film without resorting to the visual overkill of big budget effects.